Based on the true story of a Union outfit destroying supply trains behind enemy lines during the Civil War, The Horse Soldiers stars Wayne in the familiar role of the gruff leader of a ragtag group which includes William Holden’s Army doctor and Constance Towers’ Confederate hostage. The at-times implausible antagonism that defines the relationship between Wayne's colonel and Holden's medic is balanced by typically striking, emotionally resonant imagery, as when young Southern cadets march off to battle and certain early death against the Yankees, and the haunting silhouette of troops parading along the banks of a river, shot on location in Louisiana.